Dealing With Drought

Reader Contribution by Sherry Leverich Tucker

Drought is always a hard time for those of us who farm on any level. Whether you pasture chickens or tend to a herd of cattle, whether you have a back yard garden or a market garden, drought is affecting you if you live in the country’s mid-section currently being savaged by high temperatures and low to no precipitation.

Our weather went from an unusually cold, wet spring to an unusually hot, dry summer. Its has been dry here since June with just a few small showers to keep the garden going. Dry is one matter, but add record high temperatures and that makes it almost unbearable.

Plants both big and small are suffering

Ongoing record high temperatures have caused many plants, including tomatoes, peppers and green beans to stop dead in their tracks. In our garden we use a soaker hose sparingly to keep our plants at least hanging on through the drought. We are hoping to keep them healthy through this extreme weather until they can set on more fruit, since many plants won’t in high heat. Eventually rain will come and temperatures will drop to average conditions. Outlying trees have also been a problem to our garden this year. During most years this is not an issue, but right now we can see a huge drain on plants within 10-20 feet of the limb-span of oak and hickory trees that grow outside of the garden.

Pasture for the livestock is quickly diminishing as well. The cows are currently grazing in a small field that I was hoping I could save for winter forage. Soon I will have to consider feeding hay, which other farmers in the area have already started doing. This is a risk, since I have a limited amount of hay in which I bought to use for winter feeding. Things could quickly change, though; a long fall with some good precipitation would help grasses to grow and provide good pasture into winter months.

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